Succulents and More™

Eric Bailey is a fellow member of the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society and lives on a multi-acre rural property along the Sacramento River. Last week, I finally had the opportunity to see his garden. With no traffic on the freeway, the drive is only 20 minutes, but it’s a different world out there in the country, away from suburban neighborhoods with their crammed lots. Eric’s driveway off the levee road is longer than my entire street! View of the Sacramento River from the levee road When I saw this repurposed tractor tire planter with an agave in the middle, I knew it was my kind of place . Old tires are good for a lot of things, not just planters, but also cat sculptures: The area in front of the house — think of it as a large courtyard — is filled with metal planters and rocks: Eric’s container garden is less than two years old. None of the planters are store-bought. Eric made them himself from things he found on the property. It has been in his wife’s family for 50+ years,...

My previous post was about Loree’s front garden. This post is about the back garden. The portal to the back garden is the agave gate that Loree’s husband Andrew designed: While distinctly separate, the back garden repeats many of the same themes as the front garden: bold foliage, architectural forms, spiky plants, plus ferns — so many ferns. What you won’t see a lot of is flower color. There are a few exceptions, and they truly stand out. I’m sure that was the intention. Let’s get started. As I mentioned in my previous post , these photos were taken over three days in different lighting conditions. That’s why the colors may look a bit different. Agave gate on the right Pyrrosia ferns tucked into trunk of a Trachycarpus fortunei and the crotch of an Albizia julibrissin ‘Summer Chocolate’ Foliage reigns supreme. The dark leaves are from black mondo grass ( Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’), which you will see in many of these photos. It makes a great foil for lighter colored folia...